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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23723377">Moonlight and The Padfeet</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/manbun_zukka/pseuds/manbun_zukka'>manbun_zukka</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Ball, Coming Out, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gaaaaaaaaaaay, Gryffindors be like, I added everyone's favorite seventies lesbians, James is one oblivious fucker, Lily Evans Knows Everything, M/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), No Smut, Potions, Spin the Bottle, This is my life now, how/why did i put this all in one fic?, i wrote most of this at ten pm on various dates, just for your enjoyment, love potions, rated for language, wolfstar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 22:40:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,546</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23723377</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/manbun_zukka/pseuds/manbun_zukka</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone in the Gryffindor common room was crowded around the announcement board that was currently displaying the announcement of an impending Spring Ball. Students were milling about excitedly, some talking to their friends about who they were going to ask, or what they were going to wear, and others were gossiping about who was going with who, and who’s dress robes would never match with their date.</p><p>“Fuck my life to hell,” Remus muttered under his breath. James looked over at him, cocking an eyebrow.</p><p>“What was that, Moony dearest?” he teased. “Got any special someone who you want to invite to the dance?”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alice Longbottom/Frank Longbottom, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Marlene McKinnon/Dorcas Meadowes, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>226</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Moonlight and The Padfeet</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey y'all! This piece is one of my favorite things that I've written so far! I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it!</p><p>xx,<br/>CJ</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> SPRING BALL </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> A Spring Ball is being held for all students in fourth year and above. Students are welcome to bring dates from any respective house and are encouraged to come, to promote house unity. The dance will take place on Saturday, May Twenty-First.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout and Slughorn </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Everyone in the Gryffindor common room was crowded around the announcement board that was currently displaying the announcement of an impending Spring Ball. Students were milling about excitedly, some talking to their friends about who they were going to ask, or what they were going to wear, and others were gossiping about who was going with who, and who’s dress robes would never match with their date.</p><p> </p><p>“Fuck my life to hell,” Remus muttered under his breath. James looked over at him, cocking an eyebrow.</p><p> </p><p>“What was that, Moony dearest?” he teased. “Got any special someone who you want to invite to the dance?”</p><p> </p><p>James didn’t seem to have noticed the way that Remus tensed up, but Sirius did, jumping in to save his -secret- boyfriend from James’ pestering. “I wonder, Dear Prongs, will this be the moment that you finally ask your one and only, Lily Evans, who you’ve been pinning after for years now, on a date?” he asked, tone dripping with fake enthusiasm and sarcasm.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, y’know what, I think I just might!” James declared, much to his friend’s chagrin. “I will indeed ask Evans out, if you two ask out <em> your </em> crushes - I know you have one, don’t lie to me Padfoot.”</p><p> </p><p>“Fine, but I’ll bet you four galleons that either Remus or I will have the guts to get a date before you ask Lily out.” Sirius countered.</p><p> </p><p>“Bet accepted!” James agreed, shaking hands with Sirius. James and Peter retreated up to the dorm not long after, leaving Remus and Sirius alone in the mostly-empty common room.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Rem-dawg?” </p><p> </p><p>“Yes, Dog-Star?”</p><p> </p><p>“Will you go to the ball with me?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, you see, I have this boyfriend, and I was planning on asking him…”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh shut it, you wanker.” Sirius grinned, tackling Remus onto the couch and smothering him with kisses.</p><p> </p><p>Little did they know that Lily Evans was sitting in a corner, listening to their whole conversation with a sly smile on her face.</p><hr/><p>“Prongs,” Sirius started at breakfast the next morning. “I believe you owe me four galleons.”</p><p> </p><p>“I-wh-huh?” James sputtered. Lily grinned from down the table where she was talking to Marlene and Dorcas about how Frank had finally asked Alice out. “How the hell did you already get dates?"</p><p> </p><p>“It’s my wolfish charm.” Remus deadpanned from where he was sitting across from Sirius. (Little did James know, they were playing footsie.)</p><p>“Oh har-har.” James muttered, begrudgingly placing the money in Sirius’ hands. </p><p> </p><p>“Ugh,” Peter said, checking his schedule. “We have double potions today.” </p><p> </p><p>“Ugh indeed.” the rest of the Marauders agreed.</p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>“Ah, boys, I see you’ve chosen to grace us with your presence.” Professor Slughorn said sarcastically from the front of the class. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were late yet again, but this time by a mere ten minutes.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry, Professor. I got caught up in the library and forgot to remind this lot that lunch was over.” Remus said, saving everyone’s butts, as always.</p><p> </p><p>“Of course, of course. What I was saying before you boys decided to make your grand entrance, was that in today’s class we will be making and studying Amortentia.” Slughorn continued. “Everyone will have to go around and say what their potion smells like, and then bottle some to be studied on a later date. You have sixty-five minutes to brew your potions.”</p><p> </p><p>Remus and Lily were partnered, and Remus became increasingly worried as the scent of wet dog began to waft through the air. “Um… Lils?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, Rem?” Lily answered, still focussed on stirring the potion.</p><p> </p><p>“What do you smell?” Remus questioned. Lily leaned down closer to the pale pink potion, inhaling deeply. </p><p> </p><p>“Hmm…” she paused, as if considering something. “I smell parchment, and morning dew…” another pause, “And sandalwood. Yes that’s it.”</p><p> </p><p>Remus chose not to mention how James wore sandalwood cologne, and instead continued stoking the fire. </p><p> </p><p>“What about you, Remus?” Lily questioned, an evil glint in her eyes. Remus was about to open his mouth when Slughorn announced that their time was up, and could everyone please prepare to share what the potion smelled like to them.</p><p> </p><p>First went Marlene, who simply said Dorcas, and then Dorcas went, who coincidentally said Marlene. Next Alice went, who smelled something that sounded like an exact description of Frank’s deodorant, then Frank went, who said he smelled daisies and an English meadow.</p><p>“I smell, er, fresh cut grass, new books, and um, lilies.” James stuttered out when it was his turn.  Peter smelled seemingly nothing, blaming it on a bad potion, and then it was Sirius’ turn.</p><p> </p><p>“I smell, hmm, I smell wool, and old books, and um,” he paused trying desperately not to say what he knew the actual smell was. “Hot chocolate.” Lily looked between him and Remus, smirk growing wider with every word. </p><p> </p><p>“Remus, m’boy, go on then,” Slughorn boomed. Remus turned back to his cauldron, taking a deep breath.</p><p> </p><p>“I smell rain, and coffee, and er, wet dog…” Remus trailed off, trying and failing to avoid Lily’s gaze. </p><p> </p><p>“Curious, very curious….” Slughorn mumbled, wondering how one of his best students could’ve gotten the potion wrong.</p><p> </p><p>The class was uneventful after that, the only other interesting thing that happened being James practically pissing himself when Lily said that she smelled sandalwood.</p><hr/><p>Sirius and Remus were walking out of the dungeons and towards the Gryffindor common room, when they were accosted in the hallway by one Lily Evans.</p><p> </p><p>“Why hello there Lily, how’s it going?” Remus asked, trying to keep his tone nonchalant.</p><p> </p><p>“Old books? And wet dog? HOT CHOCOLATE? Who do you people think you’re fooling?” she yelled. Remus thanked every deity he could think of that they were in a back hallway. “And Sirius, I know for a fact that you didn’t smell hot chocolate.”</p><p> </p><p>Sirius seemed to blush even harder than Remus, who was rooted to the ground, trying not to gape at the whole situation.</p><p> </p><p>“You could’ve told me, y’know.” Lily added, softer this time. “I’m happy for you. It took you bastards long enough. I can’t even recall how many times Sirius would spend hours ranting to me about how ‘really Lils, it’s infuriating how he can manage to look good in jumpers,’ and ‘Lily, the way he says ‘<em> cardies </em>’”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, Lils, that enough of that!” Sirius spoke up, dragging Remus into another side corridor.</p><p> </p><p>“Cardies! Really, Sirius? Cardies?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh shut up, you wanker”</p><p> </p><p>“And really? You think I would’ve believed you when you said Hot Chocolate?”</p><p> </p><p>“Do you want to know what I actually smelled?” Sirius leaned in closer to Remus’s ear, whispering something that made him blush even more.</p><p> </p><p>“<em> Sirius </em>!”</p><hr/><p>James, Lily, Remus, Sirius, Peter, Alice, Marlene, Dorcas, and Frank were sitting in a circle in a common room, all drunk off their arses. </p><p> </p><p>“You lot.” Alice slurred, grabbing a bottle of firewhiskey and throwing it at Frank in a vain attempt to wake him up. “We’re playing truth or dare.”</p><p> </p><p>There were groans heard from across the room, but no one blatantly disagreed, so they decided that nothing could go severely wrong. </p><p> </p><p>“Okay, Marlene, truth or dare?” Alice asked.</p><p> </p><p>“TRUTH! Mama ain’t raise no pussy!” Marlene cheered.</p><p> </p><p>“ Do you like boys or girls?”</p><p> </p><p>“Girls, duh.” Marlene garbled. “They’re so much better.”</p><p> </p><p>“We all saw that coming.” Alice muttered, seemingly disappointed. “ James, truth or dare?”</p><p> </p><p>“DARE! Mama ain’t raise no pussy, and only pussys back away from challenges!”</p><p> </p><p>“I dare you to reveal your deepest darkest secret.” Lily interjected.</p><p> </p><p>“Sounds like more of a truth, but okay!” James said, turning into a deer and back to a human before anyone could say anything.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, I was not expecting that!” Dorcas quipped from her place in Marlene’s lap.</p><p> </p><p>“Fair enough. Sirius, truth or dare?” James asked.</p><p> </p><p>“TRUTH! Mama ain’t raise me at all, I raised myself!” Sirius yelped.</p><p> </p><p>“Who’re you going to the dance with?”</p><p> </p><p>“Can I change to dare?” </p><p> </p><p>“Ugh, fine. I dare you to kiss the prettiest person in this room. And full on kiss, not just a peck. At least ten seconds.” James agreed.</p><p> </p><p>Sirius had the dignity to at least pretend to hesitate, looking around the circle, before locking eyes with Remus and leaning into a kiss. Remus threaded his hands into Sirius’ hair and kissed back gently, before pulling away <em> exactly </em> ten seconds later. No one commented on how comfortable they looked in the kiss, as they were probably too drunk to care. James whooped and Alice continued on to Peter, and the night continued.</p><p> </p><p>It was close to four in the morning when James finally went upstairs, too tired to at least pretend to hold up conversation. Remus and Sirius fell asleep curled up in the same armchair, and Lily had the decency to wake them up in the morning before anyone noticed. The two stumbled up the stairs to the dorms, pulling the curtains on Sirius’s bed closed, before falling into Remus’s bed together and drawing the curtains around themselves, succumbing to slumber once more.</p><hr/><p>It was a crisp early-spring morning when the Marauders met on platform 9 ¾ , ready to return to Hogwarts after Easter Break. Remus, however, was worried about Sirius.</p><p> </p><p>He had only received two letters from him during the entire break, and Sirius seemed quieter than usual, with darker circles under his eyes. Once they were all settled in their usual compartment, James off looking for Lily, and Peter in the washroom, Remus turned to Sirius.</p><p> </p><p>“...Padfoot?” he questioned tentatively. </p><p> </p><p>Sirius just sighed in response, leaning further into Remus and burying his head in his shoulder. </p><p> </p><p>“C’mere,” Remus whispered, pulling Sirius further into his chest. He felt silent tears hitting his shoulder, and held on tighter, paying no heed to what he knew was Lily standing by the compartment door. “You don’t have to tell me about it now, okay? We can talk later.”</p><p> </p><p>Remus pressed a light kiss to his temple, pulling back a bit to wipe the tears off of Sirius’ face. “It’ll all be okay. I promise.”<br/><br/></p><p>Sirius nodded, taking a sniffly breath. By the time James and Peter were back, Remus had his head buried back in his book and Sirius was rushing through some Potions homework, and it looked as if nothing had happened at all.</p><p> </p><p>It wasn’t until that night, with Peter’s and James’ snores filling the room, that Sirius crawled into Remus’ bed and just shook. Remus held him there, running gentle fingers through his hair and whispering soothing words.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t want to do this anymore.” Sirius whispered, clinging onto Remus.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t want to do what, love?”</p><p> </p><p>“To pretend to be one of them,” Sirius said, voice small. “To have to suffer through family dinners with my racist relatives, and plaster posters of half-naked women on my walls, even though that’s not who I am. I want to plaster pictures of<em>   you </em> on my walls, Rem. I don’t want to have to call those people my relatives again. I don’t want all of these godforsaken scars all over me. I’m not one of them, but everyone thinks I am.” </p><p> </p><p>“No, Pads, nobody thinks that. I’ve never thought of you as anything but amazing. And James, Pete, and Lily, they all know you for who you are. And Marlene and Dorcas and Alice and Frank, they all think that you’re great. I’ve never met a single sensible person who didn’t like you, and personally, I love you more than I ever thought possible.” Remus whispered back. “You’re not one of them and you’ll never be.”</p><p> </p><p>“I love you, Rem.”</p><p> </p><p>“I love you too, Pads.”</p><p> </p><p>And they fell asleep like that, Sirius’ head on Remus’ chest, holding each other tightly. They would barely spend another night apart again.</p><p> </p><hr/><p>“IT’S HAPPENED BOYS!” James bellowed as he burst into the dormroom late one Tuesday. Peter was sitting at a table, fighting with his astronomy homework while Remus was in his bed reading with Sirius curled up at his feet as Padfoot. “I ASKED LILY OUT! AND SHE SAID YES!”</p><p> </p><p>Sirius’s ears perked up at this and Remus smirked, knowing full well that Lily had a crush on James since the beginning of the year and that Marlene and Dorcas were experiencing the exact same thing in their dorm.</p><p> </p><p>“Well done, James!” Peter cheered and Sirius turned back into a person, leaping up and hugging him. </p><p> </p><p>“Congrats, Prongs!” Remus said, still not looking up from his book. “Send Lily my condolences.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh shut up, you wanker!” James said, chucking a pillow at Remus’ head. “Speaking of dates, Moony, Padfoot, who the hell are you going with? You’re going to have to tell me at some point!”</p><p> </p><p>Sirius turned back into a dog and Remus rolled his eyes, going back to his book. </p><p> </p><p>“Honestly, at this point I’m pretty worried that neither of you actually have dates. You might have to-”</p><p> </p><p>“NO!” Remus yelled.</p><p> </p><p>“DON’T DO IT PRONGS!” Peter screamed.</p><p> </p><p>Sirius barked.</p><p> </p><p>“-GO STAG!”</p><p> </p><p>“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”</p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Remus and Lily stood at the base of the staircase, waiting for Sirius and James. Lily was a vision in a deep blue, off-the-shoulder gown, fiery hair swept away to one side of her face. Remus was dressed more simply, in a set of plain navy robes.</p><p> </p><p>As Sirius and James finally emerged from the dorm room, Remus’ breath caught in his throat. In all the months of their relationship, he’d never seen Sirius like this; so visibly happy and in his element, eyes shining, shoulder-length hair arranged in the perfect way, black and gold robes fitting immaculately.</p><p> </p><p>Sirius was the first to speak when they reached the bottom of the stairs. “You clean up nice, Lupin.”</p><p> </p><p>“Not so bad yourself, Black.” Remus said back, before pulling him into a soft kiss. Ignoring James’ gaping expression, he drew away and grabbed Sirius’ hand, pulling him into the common room.</p><p> </p><p>“I see you two finally got your shit together.” Marlene remarked as they walked in.</p><p> </p><p>“Finally?” Sirius scoffed. “It took us, what, almost a year to come out. Finally is an understatement!”</p><p> </p><p>“PAY UP!” Marlene yelped, turning expectedly to Alice and Dorcas. The two rolled their eyes before placing two galleons into her hands.</p><p> </p><p>“C’mon, you lot, were going to be late.” Remus sighed. “I’m not making two grand entrances in one night. That’s too much for any person.”</p><p> </p><p>As the group was heading out the door, Sirius yelled over his shoulder “James pick your jaw up off the floor and hurry the fuck up!”</p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Not much changed after that. Remus still always kissed Sirius good luck before quidditch games, and Sirius would still fall asleep in a chair in the hospital wing on full moons. Regulus had snitched to Sirius’ parents, so Sirius would be staying with the Potter’s for the summer. The two simply seemed happier, one constantly with an arm around the other, pressing kisses to each other’s cheeks and temples. It was harmonic, and perfect, and pure. It was love. </p><p> </p><p>(Slughorn also changed Remus' grade on the amortentia, but that's besides the point!)</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello lovelies!</p><p>I hope you enjoyed reading my work and please leave a comment and kudos if you feel so inclined! Thanks so much for giving me your time!</p><p>xx,<br/>CJ</p></blockquote></div></div>
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